Borussia Dortmund star Ramy Bensebaini is an enigma. He can go from defensive excellence to a frustrating liability real quick, leading to highly polarized opinions of him.
His performances with Algeria in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers so far have done little to change that notion, with the BVB centre-back enduring a tumultuous run across two games.
Bensebaini makes costly blunder in Burundi draw
Just days after a shaky performance in the Zambia win, Bensebaini had a full-blown nightmare against Burundi on Tuesday.
While attempting to clear an incoming cross, the BVB star slammed it against Jean Claude Girumugisha, which came off him onto Bensebaini, and back to the Burundian winger.
He then controlled it and drove forward towards the Algerian box with Bensebaini trailing him in transition, before cutting it inside onto his right foot to evade Jaouen Hadjam's challenge and slam it home for 2-0.
It was a major blunder from the 31-year-old, whose botched clearance handed Burundi a goalscoring chance as the Desert Warriors got hopelessly exposed on the break. For someone of his experience and caliber, Bensebaini should have done better there.
The defender's mistake also came just seven minutes after Faris Chaibi's horror own goal that gifted Burundi the opener. The midfielder's backpass was out of goalkeeper Melvin Mastil's reach, as poor communication between the Algerian players put Burundi 1-0 up.
So for Bensebaini to then make another costly defensive error was double-whammy for Algeria.
BVB star improves after the break
In the second half, however, Ramy Bensebaini stabilized the ship and appeared to regain his composure. He was more positionally aware, tracking incoming runs with great vigilance while also timing his interventions well to snuff out potential dangers. In fact, the Dortmund defender finished with eight clearances, second only to his centre-back partner Achref Abada.
As Algeria's offensive threat grew in the second half, Bensebaini played a crucial role in building attacks from deep. He made 18 long balls, completing 11. His passing also became more purposeful, especially in the opposition half, and registered a completion rate of 89%.
A more commanding and reliable display in the second half meant that Burundi didn't enjoy the same opportunities to exploit the Algerian defense as they did in the initial exchanges, and spent a large portion clamped inside their own half.
If Bensebaini produced more of these displays on a consistent basis, he could truly establish himself among the best centre-backs.
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